Over the years, Loras has hosted well-known comedians, bands and presidential candidates.

But seeing a legend like Dan Gable just hanging out at a Loras soccer game? It turns out he was watching his daughter play. Mackie Gable is a senior at Loras.

Any born-and-bred Iowan who knows even a smidgen of what Gable has accomplished has to be in awe of the man, even while he’s just sitting there watching a soccer match. I certainly was.

This man has not only won an Olympic gold medal in wrestling, but he is arguably the most successful coach who has ever lived. He has inspired countless young men. In the wrestling world, he is quite simply THE MAN!

Who is this man, this man who became the poster child for what it means to be a winner?

Born in Waterloo, IA, to Mack and Katie Gable, Dan Gable often jokes that he “was ‘bridging’ (a wrestling term) when his mother first put him in the cradle.” But he did not officially become involved in wrestling until the sixth grade, when he joined a program at the local YMCA. Obviously, however, he had wrestled around the house much earlier than that.

Gable never actually had a competitive match until he was in seventh grade. He said that fact surprises people, but it was a good thing that he started wrestling at a “late” age.

“I think part of the reason kids are being burned out is because they are starting too early,” he said. “When a kid has a competitive match before junior high, most of them, by the time college comes around, want out.”

Gable went on to high school in Waterloo, and then he went to Iowa State, where he double-majored in physical education and biology. Oh, by the way, he also wrestled at Iowa State.

“It was what you did at the time, everyone was going into wrestling,” he said.

So, what makes him different from any other man? The image many people have of Gable is that he is likely the most driven, intense man on Earth. I was surprised, then, when I met a somewhat-shy, somewhat-reserved man. Still Superman, but I didn’t see his trademark intensity.

Gable’s high school and collegiate record in wrestling was a collective 182-1, including a span in which he won 99 consecutive matches at Iowa State.

He’s often asked about that loss. He said it took him until just a couple of years ago to figure it out.

“It was simple — I needed to lose,” he said. “It was good that I lost, not only to better myself as a wrestler but to better myself as a person.”

His last match in college was in 1970, when he moved on to international competition and became the Olympic champ in 1972 in Munich. (Gable said that during the Olympics, an Israeli man in his weight class was murdered along with 10 others during the Munich Olympics Hostage Crisis).

During the Olympics, Gable defeated all six of his six opponents without even being scored upon.

“The Russians vowed to find someone to beat me, but who they chose just couldn’t cut it,” he said.

Gable has said his inspiration came from all those people around him. He credits the support systems at the YMCA and many other good-hearted people who motivated him to work so hard. His parents were always supportive of him.

After the Olympics, Gable was asked to be the assistant wrestling coach at Iowa. He took over the head coaching job in 1977 and led Iowa to the Big Ten Championship that same year. The next year, the Hawkeyes won their first national title under Gable. Then, for good measure, they won the next eight NCAA titles.

The Iowa wrestling program soared to heights never seen before in sports. Gable’s dynasty built up an amazing record of 355-21-5 in dual meets. His wrestling teams at Iowa won the NCAA title 15 times that went nicely with 21 straight Big Ten Conference titles.

He also coached the Olympic team three times. In his first Olympics, his team won seven gold medals. In 1980, he was inducted into the USA Wrestling Hall of Fame. In 1985 Gable was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

After countless other honors were hoisted upon him, he retired in 1997. He has yet to miss any of his daughter’s collegiate soccer matches.

“Now I just do what I can to promote my sport and focus on my family,” Gable said. “Everyone here has done a good job with Mackie; I am glad she went to Loras.”

Gable’s wife of 35 years, Kathy, also makes most of Mackie’s games.

“I give a lot of credit to Kathy,” Dan said. “She has been a full-time mom, and I believe our daughters’ successes have a lot to do with her.”
The whole family loved wrestling, obviously, but they are grateful that he has retired.

“He has been able to see his daughters in their sports now that he has retired,” Kathy said. “He never misses a game and is always here to cheer her on. The soccer team has also done a good job keeping tabs on her. They are a great group of girls and guys.”

Mackie has been coming to sports camps at Loras since she was in junior high, but her decision to actually attend Loras was a last-minute one.

“I decided to come to Loras mostly to play soccer,” she said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to play college soccer, but if I didn’t try it I might have regretted it.”

Mackie is the youngest of four girls.

“I think being surrounded by a bunch of women has kept my father kind of sane,” Mackie said, “even though we grew up around wrestling.”

“It was pretty much a part of our lives,” Mackie continued. “Every year, we’d go on a vacation, but usually it would have something to do with wrestling.”

Growing up with a coach in the family, all four girls were involved in sports. The two oldest daughters, Jenni Mitchell and Annie Gavin, were cheerleaders. Molly was a swimmer and Mackie plays soccer.

“One thing my father has taught me was it never mattered how good I was,” Mackie said. All that mattered was that I worked my hardest and that I was satisfied with what happened.”

Mackie is going to graduate this year with a degree in education. She wants to teach kindergarden.